General Finish Gel Stain

[jstockman]

Guys

I am having problems with the General Finishes gel stain.  Here is my project

I am in the process of finishing my kitchen cabinet face frames.
  Wood is alder
  Blotch control - Bulleye dewaxed Shellac 2 pound cut.
  Stain is General Finishes Gel Stain

General finishes says to sand the wood with 150 grit. I did this and applied the stain, which turned out well.
Then I wanted to smooth out the wood so I glued felt on the back of 320 grit and very, very lightly sanded.  This took off the roughness, of the 150 grit, but also, took off stain. 

So what do I do.?

I followed General Finishes directions, but I still have some raised surfaces that may affect the smoothness of the finish.
What should I do?

Will several coats of lacquer give me a smooth finish?

What am I missing here?

JIm

 

[nclemmons]

Did you lightly sand after applying the blotch control?  I use a lot of GF wiping gel strains and have not had an issue with raising the grain.  i do use blotch control on cherry and lightly (with 400 grit) sand it to remove grain raising.

Just trying to understand if the GF gel raised the grain or the blotch control.

I have not used Alder...

If you go back over the sanded gel with another coat of gel, can you apply but not go too dark and get a smooth surface?

 

[JBag09]

I use this gel stain a lot, I never sand it after the stain, rough or not. I have been putting on 2, maybe 3 coats or the gel poly and then I hit it with 320, then add one last coat of finish.
  Now I've never used Alder, but supposedly with the gel stain you shouldn't need blotch control, but like I said I've never used that wood before.

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[jstockman]

neilc

No I did not lightly sand after the shellac.  I sanded with 120 grit, and then 150 grit and then applied the Shellac.  After this application I applied the gel stain.  General finishes said to apply the gel stain after sanding with 150 grit.  I did this, but now I am left with a rough surface. 

Jim

 

[jstockman]

I use this gel stain a lot, I never sand it after the stain, rough or not. I have been putting on 2, maybe 3 coats or the gel poly and then I hit it with 320, then add one last coat of finish.
  Now I've never used Alder, but supposedly with the gel stain you shouldn't need blotch control, but like I said I've never used that wood before.

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That is encouraging.  I was hoping that I could lightly sand with 320 after the first or second coat of lacquer.  Does that sound like it would work?

Jim

 

[JBag09]

@jstockman being that you have to sand between coats of lacquer it should work fine. The thing I have found with gel stain is it has to thoroughly dry before doing the next step. Since I usually use a wipe on finish, I have actually rubbed off some of the stain when applying the finish. I have started to leave myself at least 48 hrs before I apply finish.
  I would say as long as you sand after your lacquer coats you should knocks the raised grain off after a coat or two.

J

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[Cheese]

I've found it imperative that you allow enough time in between coats to allow the gel stain to dry. I usually allow at least 24 hours absolute minimum. I also use 3M non-woven web products (grey Scotch Brite) to very lightly level the surface between gel stain applications.

FWIW... when finishing oak, I've had the best results RO sanding with 120 paper, then I wet the entire surface with water to raise the grain. When dry, I very lightly HAND sand the surface just enough to remove the raised grain nibs. I then stain and use the grey Scotch Brite lightly between stain coats. I usually finish by putting on 2-4 coats of clear poly and using 400 grit very lightly, by hand, between coats. 

 

[manlilow]

I recently used the GF Java gel stain on a project.  I used a 1lb cut of shellac for blotch control and then sanded with 220 to take care of the raised grain.  Then like other people stated let it dry at least 24 to 48 hours before your finish coats, I used a wipe on poly sanding after the 3rd coat with 320 and the next to last coat with 600 and then the final coat with 2000.  This left a glass finish. 

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[Scott B.]

It's not always reliable to go by the recommendations on the can, because there are so many variables.

Such as using a sanding sealer (blotch control). You sanded correctly prior to the shellac application but should have sanded at 220 or 240 after, and then applied the gel stain. As Cheese mentioned, allow plenty (48 hrs at least) of time for gel stain to harden on the sealer and do not sand, go straight to clear topcoats.

This is good experience and simple thing to correct in your finishing sequence going forward.

 

[jstockman]

Thx for your advice.

I ended up using the 150 grit paper as per the instructions. What smoothed the wood out was the lacquer finish coats i sprayed. That seemed to work

Again. Thank-you all for advice and help

Jim